This gentle contemplation was soon broken, however, by the overwhelming odours of sulphur and phosphorous, and for a brief moment the thought occurred that the building had spontaneously combusted from the pure energy.

The Daily Mail building would spontaneously combust.

Fiberglass insulation, in contrast, melts at slightly over 1,100 degrees, and cellulose combusts during house fires.

Derivatives

combustor

Many technology experts predict that coal gasifiers - rather than traditional coal combustors - will form the core of advanced, 21st century, super-clean power plants.

For example, municipal waste combustors are estimated to have emitted collectively nearly 18 pounds of dioxin toxic equivalents in 1987, but under EPA regulations, they are now expected to emit less than 1/2 ounce per year.

Eighty-seven percent of the mercury going out into the atmosphere is coming from utility boilers, waste combustors, coal-fired power plants, cement plants and medical incinerators.